Introduction
Usually it is a dramatic life event that causes us to stop and think about putting our affairs in order, such as a medical diagnosis, the birth of a child, or the loss of a loved one. However, making plans and ensuring they are communicated can be liberating and leave us free to get on with enjoying life.
Planning for the end of one’s life can be a difficult and emotional topic to think about and discuss, but it is an important part of ensuring that your wishes are respected and your loved ones are taken care of. That's why we have put together this guide to help you navigate this process with compassion and understanding. We understand that these discussions can be challenging, but having a plan in place can provide peace of mind for you and your family.
Content
Talking about Death
Treatment & Care Options
Making a Living Will (Declaration of Advance Directives)
Euthanasia/Assisted Dying in Spain
Making a Will in Spain
Power of Attorney in Spain
Managing your Documents & Accounts
Leaving your body to medical science
Organ Donation
Arranging and paying for your funeral
Professional Services
Talking About Death
Talking about death can be difficult, but it can ease fears and help you plan for the future. It's normal to feel scared or upset, but having these conversations is important. Being informed can lead to sensible decisions and reduced stress for everyone involved. Prepare your loved ones before discussing your end-of-life plans to ensure they are ready for the conversation. It may help if you write down some of the most important things you wish to say. Take your time and if it becomes too difficult, have a break and come back to the conversation at another time.
Remember, having plans in place and having communicated those plans to family and friends can mean you can get on with enjoying your later life, safe in the knowledge that your affairs are in order.
Treatment & Care Options
Palliative care focuses on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness, with the goal of improving quality of life for the patient. Hospice care, on the other hand, is typically provided for patients with terminal illnesses who are no longer seeking curative treatment, focusing on pain management, symptom control, and emotional support for both the patient and their family.
In Spain, these services can be offered in hospitals, nursing homes, hospice facilities, or in the patient's own home. The healthcare system in Spain provides comprehensive care for individuals at the end of life, including hospice and palliative care options. It is important to discuss your preferences and options with your healthcare provider or local health authority to access these services in Spain.
Spanish state health and social services resources are devolved to the autonomous regions within Spain and the type and level of service may vary across the country. Entitlement to access state care depends on many variables, for example, how long you have been resident, your employment or retirement status and your financial position.
Hospice provision can also be limited in some areas and will not necessarily be provided in an institution where English is spoken. Private hospice care is available and a search online will locate your nearest provider.
Living Will (Declaration of Advance Directive)
A living will, also known as an advance directive, is a legal document that allows you to specify your future preferences for medical treatment in the event that you become ill and you are unable to communicate your wishes. It typically includes instructions on the type of medical care you would like to receive or not receive, such as life-sustaining treatments like resuscitation, artificial nutrition or hydration, and other specific healthcare decisions. Having a living will can help ensure that your healthcare preferences are respected and followed if you are unable to make decisions for yourself.
A living will is called ‘declaración de voluntad vital anticipada’ in Spain. You have to register it with the relevant public authorities where you live for it to be valid. In Spain, each autonomous region has its own regulations and procedures for registering and accessing living wills. In the region of Murcia for example, you can register your advanced living will online through the Regional Registry of Advanced Living Wills, or in person at any of the authorised health centres. So in the first instance you would need to enquire at your health centre to see if they are authorised.
To register your advanced living will, you will need to fill out a form with your personal details, your health care preferences, and the name and contact information of one or more representatives who can act on your behalf if necessary. You will also need to provide a copy of your ID card or passport and sign the document in front of witnesses or a notary.
Your advanced living will is valid for an indefinite period of time, unless you revoke or modify it. You can do so at any time by following the same procedure as for the registration.
Euthanasia/Assisted Dying in Spain
In situations where an individual is suffering from a serious and incurable illness that causes unbearable suffering they can request assistance to end their life.
In Spain, this is regulated by the law for the regulation of euthanasia, which came into force in June 2021. This law defines euthanasia as the deliberate action taken by healthcare providers to directly cause a person's death by administering a substance or prescribing it for self-administration.
To request euthanasia, certain conditions must be met:
1. The person must be a Spanish citizen or have legal residence in Spain, be of legal age, and be mentally capable.
2. They must receive detailed information about their medical condition and treatment options, including palliative care.
3. The individual must make two voluntary written requests for euthanasia, with at least fifteen days between them.
4. The person must be diagnosed with a serious and incurable disease or a serious, chronic, and disabling condition.
5. Informed consent must be given before receiving euthanasia, which will be documented in the patient's medical records.
For more information visit the Ministry of Health website here
Making a Will in Spain
If you die without a valid will, your money and possessions may not go to the people you would like them to. A will is the only way to make sure your savings and possessions (your estate) go to the people and causes that you care about. A will is not obligatory but it is highly advisable. If you have money and possessions in more than one country, or you have a will but have since changed your country of residency, you need to be sure that your wishes are completely covered. A will is a separate document from a power of attorney. A will is effective only on your death and has no legal authority prior to that point.
The following Age in Spain Guides extensively cover the subject of Spanish Wills:
If you are considering leaving any donations in your will, we would be honoured if you kept Age in Spain in mind as part of your legacy. A legacy donation in memory of someone whom Age in Spain has been able to help in the past, would be much appreciated and enable us to continue our vital work.
Power of attorney
A power of attorney (known as a poder notarial in Spain) is effective only whilst you are alive and is a way of giving someone you trust, your attorney, the legal authority to make decisions on your behalf.
The following Age in Spain guide explains the process in Spain.
This is very useful at different stages of life, especially to resolve administrative procedures when you are away or need someone to act for you because of incapacity.
Managing Your Documents & Accounts
It can be useful and time-saving to gather and keep important documents in a safe place, and tell someone you trust where they are kept. This could be a family member, a close friend, the person you grant power of attorney to, or the executor nominated in your will.
Such key documents might include (not exhaustive):
Birth certificate
Passport
Driving licence
Bank account details and recent bank statements (list all your accounts and their details)
Pension plans, both private and state pensions
Insurance policies - life; house; car; funeral plan or insurance; other
NIE number; Padron; and Residency documents
Documents related to any other assets (such as your home, savings, investments)
Will
Smartphones - access to contacts; photos; music and mobile banking
If you use the internet to pay bills, shop online or keep in touch via social media with friends, think about what you want to happen to your digital and social media accounts after you die. If you have a Facebook Account for example, you can decide whether your account is deleted when you die, or become a memorialised profile. If you chose to keep your Facebook account after your death, you would need to nominate someone to manage your account. All your photos and memories would remain on Facebook and the word “remembering” added before your profile.
Some people create a personal assets log (an up-to-date list of all their online accounts), along with clear instructions about what is to happen to each account, after death. For example you may want close friends or family to be able to recover sentimental things which are stored online, such as photographs or significant playlists.
If you have an online bank account, your executors can arrange for it to be closed and claim the money on behalf of your estate. Don’t leave details of your passwords or PINs, as anyone using them after your death could be committing a criminal offence.
Be aware that there may be ongoing or upfront costs to pay in the interim period until your will is found and your estate is settled, such as ongoing loans, utility bills, funeral or legal costs. If there is no power of attorney in place and no pre-paid funeral plan or insurance, this can cause financial inconvenience and emotional stress to family members.
If you have joint bank accounts, be aware that these can sometimes be frozen when one of the signatories dies until the estate is settled - plan how the other person would be able to support themselves and pay for funeral expenses whilst your estate is being settled.
Leaving your body to medical science
Donating one’s body to science is a personal, voluntary and completely selfless act in which the person bequeaths their body to further research in the areas of human anatomy and surgical procedures.
In Spain, dissection rooms and body donation programmes (BDP) are managed by Universities, under the administrative control of the autonomous governments, as is the case for public health services. To donate your body to science in Spain, you should contact the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anatomy and Embryology closest to your location, usually a university hospital. There will be documentation to be signed and witnessed and there could be fees involved for the collection of the body. In some areas, body collection is free but be aware, some departments cannot collect a body when death occurs during a weekend.
There are also requirements for being a donor and some donations cannot be accepted, for example bodies with the following conditions may be declined:
Bodies with extreme obesity or extreme cachexia (excessively thick or excessively thin); if the tissues have been destroyed, burned or seriously injured; if the body is undergoing a process of judicial instruction (forensic autopsy). It cannot be admitted either if the donor suffers from a contagious infectious disease such as Coronavirus, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV infection (AIDS), or Sepsis (blood infection), or any other illness that poses a potential health risk to students or people working with the body.
Organ Donation
If you have not specified in a Living Will that you do not wish to be an organ donor or communicated your wishes to next of kin or legal representatives who can be contacted upon your passing, you may be considered for organ donation.
Upon passing away in a medical facility, transplant coordinators conduct several checks:
Verify if the deceased had communicated their wishes to reachable relatives or healthcare professionals, either documented in medical records or through a registered Living Will.
Inspect personal items and documentation for any indication of opting out of donation.
If there is no evidence of objection during these checks, coordinators inform present relatives at the facility about the importance of organ donation, the organs open for donation, and the processes involved.
The medical professional determining your eligibility for post-mortem organ donation should not have been involved in your care leading up to your passing or certifying your death
Pre-Paid Funeral Plans Versus Funeral Insurance
You may want to ensure that your funeral arrangements are fully agreed and paid-for in advance, so that family members are not financially inconvenienced or emotionally stressed. There are two methods, pre-paid funeral plans or funeral insurance.
A pre-paid funeral plan is a plan made with a funeral home or provider that is paid ahead of time. The payment is fixed at the time of purchase, so you know exactly how much it costs. The funeral arrangements that you have paid for stay the same, even if the cost of funerals cost more or less when you die.
Funeral insurance is a type of whole life insurance policy designed to cover your funeral, burial/cremation, and other end-of-life expenses. You are covered for the cost of your funeral for as long as you pay the insurance premiums (usually monthly), just as with other types of insurance policies. If you stop paying, you no longer have cover and you cannot recoup any of the premiums. The availability and cost of the insurance will depend on your age and health status and the type of cover the insurance provides for. The regular payment is ongoing until you die.
Both forms of paying for your funeral have pros and cons, depending on your circumstances. As with any purchase, it is wise to get quotes from alternative, reputable providers to understand fully what is and is not covered, all the exclusions or clauses that might limit or change the arrangement.
Age in Spain’s trusted prepaid funeral supplier is Golden Leaves International.
The company was initially formed by a highly regarded family of funeral directors in South London, to satisfy the demand of the community its family had served since 1875. It has since been shaped to support the growing numbers of independent funeral directors who wanted to offer a funeral plan specific to their own communities and requirements. It has also been serving the expatriate communities of Spain and Portugal since the late 1990’s and is based in Java in the Costa Blanca
Golden Leaves is authorised and regulated by the UK financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). As all of their plans offer the option to use them in both the UK and Spain, they are sold internationally and are therefore covered by the same regulations as they are in the UK.
Professional Services
If you are not fully fluent in Spanish or you believe you might struggle with setting up some of the above processes and procedures for yourself, then you can find useful links in our Professional services guide. Whilst these are paid-for services, they can reduce the stress involved in dealing with legal, financial or medical issues in Spanish.
Professional services guide: here This contains links to lists of English-speaking lawyers in Spain (from Gov.UK); the Spanish Gestors Register; as well as lists of interpreters and translators (also from Gov.UK), which can be interrogated by geographical location.
Index of Related Guides & Useful Websites
The following guides are available free of charge on our website. Click on the title to see the guide
The following are links to useful websites
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